By Gunjan Chawla (This piece first appeared on The Leaflet) As we approach the final phases of India’s election to the 17th Lok Sabha, national security has emerged as one of the most debated issues of the season. On the one hand, the ruling party has portrayed the… Read More

By Aarti Bhavana The 11th Internet Governance Forum (IGF) was held earlier this month in Guadalajara, Mexico. Established as a result of the Tunis Agenda, the IGF provides a space for discussing issues relating to the internet, where stakeholders can engage on an equal… Read More

By Aarti Bhavana The much-discussed IANA transition has finally been completed, now that the U.S. Government’s contract with ICANN for IANA Functions has expired. This brings to an end the governmental oversight of these functions, a plan outlined back in 1998, and transfers it to a global… Read More

By Aarti Bhavana In the weeks leading up to the finalisation of the CCWG-Accountability Work Stream 1 Report, we traced the evolution of each recommendation. While things have been quiet on the drafting front, there has been a lot of activity towards completing and implementing Work Stream… Read More

By Aarti Bhavana With the final two chartering organizations confirming their approval yesterday, the co-chairs of the CCWG-Accountability sent the Final Report to the ICANN Board, which has now been transmitted to the NTIA. Today’s CCWG meeting outlined the work that lies ahead in the… Read More

By Aarti Bhavana The most discussed topic floating around the surprisingly chilly winds of Marrakech this week has been the CCWG-Accountability proposal. Over the past few weeks we traced the evolution of each recommendation of this Final Report, which was sent to all the chartering organizations for… Read More

By Aarti Bhavana Recommendation 11 In continuation of our series on CCWG-Accountability recommendations, this post examines one of the most controversial recommendation: Board Obligations with Regard to Governmental Advisory Committee Advice (Stress Test #18). Previous posts in this series can be read here. No other recommendation… Read More

As ICANN 55 approaches, the spotlight returns to the IANA Transition. The Cross-Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) has finalised its proposal and awaits endorsements from the chartering organizations. My colleague Aarti Bhavana, and I at the Centre for Communication Governance have begun a… Read More

By Gangesh Varma Recommendation 7 Continuing our series on tracking the CCWG Accountability Process, in our fifth post, we look at Recommendation 7 which concerns ICANN’s Independent Review Process. This post examines the key changes and developments since the 3rd Draft Proposal was opened… Read More

By Aarti Bhavana Recommendations 3 and 10 As we fast approach the ICANN55 meeting at Marrakech, we continue our series of posts tracking the CCWG-Accountability process. Previous posts in this series can be read here, here and here. This post examines Recommendation #3: Redefining ICANN’s… Read More